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Down tube not as shiny....

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Old 01-25-10 | 07:38 PM
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From: Beautiful Long Beach California

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Down tube not as shiny....

Hi All, I noticed that the down tube on the MXL is not nearly as shiny as the rest of the bike and it could even be considered dull. Is there anything that I can do to make in shine like new? I tried Mother's wax and it didn't make a difference. Thanks in advance.
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Old 01-25-10 | 07:41 PM
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Originally Posted by longbeachgary
Hi All, I noticed that the down tube on the MXL is not nearly as shiny as the rest of the bike and it could even be considered dull. Is there anything that I can do to make in shine like new? I tried Mother's wax and it didn't make a difference. Thanks in advance.
Have you tried a product like scratch X or possible a clay bar? Could it possibly sun damage, maybe the downtube was exposed from some reason?
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Old 01-25-10 | 07:53 PM
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Polishing compound, you can find it with the car wax at Walmart.
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Old 01-25-10 | 07:54 PM
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From: Beautiful Long Beach California

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Originally Posted by mkeller234
Have you tried a product like scratch X or possible a clay bar? Could it possibly sun damage, maybe the downtube was exposed from some reason?
Thanks for the reply. I don't think it's sun damage more like road grime damage from cast off from the front wheel. I haven't tried either of those - in fact I don't know what either of them are.
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Old 01-25-10 | 08:20 PM
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Originally Posted by longbeachgary
Thanks for the reply. I don't think it's sun damage more like road grime damage from cast off from the front wheel. I haven't tried either of those - in fact I don't know what either of them are.
Scratch X is just a polishing compound. I have used it on some dull looking paint with good results. Scratch X is just one product and is made by mequires, there are other brands and they probably all work just fine. The clay bar is something I have used on my car, it's a piece of very fine clay that is rubbed over the paint along with a liquid. It removes tiny bits of crud from the paint and makes it feel as smooth as glass. I have never used a clay bar on a bike before.
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Old 01-27-10 | 09:48 AM
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From: Beautiful Long Beach California

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Originally Posted by Chuckk
If it's just a fading repaint, then rubbing out and waxing or clearcoat should brighten it up.

Some misadventure in the past of your bike? Not that there's anything wrong with that.
No misadventure and no repaint. It's garaged out of the elements and it has just less than 8,000 miles on it. We don't have salt in the streets like some of you do but I do live only a couple of miles from the beach.
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